Russian Air Force's Super Weapon: Beware the PAK-FA Stealth Fighter

The Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA
stealth fighter could prove to be a formidable competitor to American
fifth-generation combat aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Indeed, in some measures, the new
Russian warplane will exceed both U.S.-built jets, but the PAK-FA is not
without its flaws.

“The analysis that I have seen on the PAK-FA indicates a pretty
sophisticated design that is at least equal to, and some have said even
superior to U.S. fifth-generation aircraft,” former U.S. Air Force
intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula told the National Interest.
“It certainly has greater agility with its combination of thrust
vectoring, all moving tail surfaces, and excellent aerodynamic design,
than does the F-35.”

Indeed, the PAK-FA appears to be optimized for the air-superiority
role like the F-22 more so than the multirole, strike-optimized F-35.
Like the Raptor, the PAK-FA is being designed to fly high and fast to
impart the maximum amount of launch energy to its arsenal of long-range
air-to-air missiles—which would greatly increase the range of those
missiles.

“Performance-wise it certainly looks to compete with the Raptor,” one
senior military official with extensive experience on U.S.
fifth-generation fighters told the National Interest.

Like the F-22, the Russian machine is expected to be able to cruise
supersonically for extended periods of time—probably faster than Mach
1.5. The aircraft’s maximum speed should be greater than Mach
2.0—assuming its low observables coatings can handle the stress.

However, unlike the American fifth-generation aircraft, the PAK-FA
places less emphasis of stealth, and much more emphasis on
maneuverability. While it could compete with the Raptor in terms of raw
kinematic performance, the PAK-FA greatly exceeds the F-35. And that
performance margin might increase.

The Russian aircraft is currently powered by modified versions of the Su-30
Flanker’s engines called the Izdeliye 117 or AL-41F1, which produce
about 33,000 pounds of thrust. The engine, which runs far hotter than
the original AL-31 engines from which it was derived, is not proving to
be as reliable as initially hoped. But the current engines are only
temporary. Later production variants of the PAK-FA are expected to be
powered by a new engine called the Izdeliye 30, which should enter
service in 2020.

The Russian jet is also equipped with a powerful avionics suite,
which is an evolution of Sukhoi’s work on the Flanker-series fighters.
“Indications are that the avionics are derived from the Su-35S with the
addition of a very high power-aperture X-band multimode AESA radar,”
Deptula said.
Further, there are indications that the PAK-FA is also equipped with
L-band radar arrays, which are able to detect the presence of a
fighter-sized stealth aircraft. While the L-band radar would not allow
the PAK-FA to target a stealth aircraft, it would allow the pilot to
focus the jet’s other sensors on a particular area of the sky.

In addition to radars and electronic support measures, the PAK-FA is equipped with infrared search and track capabilities.

While the Russians have made enormous leaps in their sensor
capabilities, U.S. warplanes still hold the edge in terms of sensor and
data-fusion, which is critical for modern warfare. “The real question is
can the Russians achieve the same degree of data fusion and networking
capabilities of the F-22A and F-35—right now I’d put my money on the
U.S. and our allies in that regard,” Deptula said.

A senior U.S. industry official agreed with Deptula’s assessment. In
terms of its avionics, the PAK-FA is closer to a Boeing F/A-18E/F Super
Hornet or F-16E/F Block 60 than an F-22 or F-35. “Some may claim that
the PAK-FA is a 5th gen. fighter, but it's more of a 4.5 gen. fighter by
U.S. standards,” the industry official said.
In fact, the PAK-FA’s lack of true sensor fusion and comprehensive
data links that are on par with its American counterparts may prove to
be its Achilles’ heel. U.S. strategists are moving towards an approach
where every aircraft or surface ship can act as a sensor for any
aircraft, ship or vehicle that carries a weapon. The launch aircraft
might not even guide the weapon once it has been fired. The U.S. Navy is
already implementing a construct called the Naval Integrated Fire
Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) that would do just that. The Air Force,
too, is working on something similar.

“In the future—while aerodynamic performance will continue to be
important—speed, range and payload to a greater degree than
maneuverability. Even more important will be the ability to ubiquitously
share knowledge to the point that we have faster decision advantage
than any adversary,” Deptula said. “This is the notion of the ‘combat
cloud.’ It’s more about how we integrate the sensor-shooters that are
resident in systems coming online, more than it is about new platforms.”